How much money do you owe your parents right now?

We owe a lot to our parents – they brought us into this world, and they taught us many of life’s most important lessons, or something. But how much do we actually owe them? A study by Legal & General this week claims that the “Bank of Mum and Dad” – as only the most entitled borrowers call it – lends so much money in the UK that if all its parental lenders were combined into a formal business, it would register as a top 10 UK mortgage lender.

We went out on the streets of London to ask people if they really were that much in debt to their folks.

Sam, 23, Student

“I honestly don’t owe them any money at the moment. I’ve definitely owed them a lot before though – I think about a grand when I went travelling.”

Simon, 27, Stylist

“Nothing – I own my own business. During university I would owe them money, but since then I haven’t.”

Radek, 20, Styling Assistant

“My dad bought me a car a few years ago, which I sold to come here. So yeah, I reckon I owe him about £2,000 for that.”

Chiara, 22, Sound Engineer

“I’ve been working since I was 14, so I’ve never really taken money from my parents. Or at least, I’ve tended not to ask.”

Natalie, 22, Editorial Assistant

“I took out my student loan myself, so I don’t really owe them anything. They’d refuse to pay for anything anyway!”

Amelia, 23, Paralegal

“I don’t think I owe them anything. I worked all the way through high school, so luckily I was able to save for uni.”

Steph, 24, Actress

“A lot! I went to boarding school so technically I owe them all that, but I guess it depends what you count as owing.

“I’d pay them back a tenner here or there, but they paid for my whole education, which is what I want to do for my kids.”

Ed, 22, Actor

“It’s a tough question because really I owe them everything, even if they haven’t been like ‘oh, here’s 10 grand’ at any point.

“Put it this way, if I won the lottery the first thing I’d do is give them half.”